Detail View: ADJUNCT MODULE A: ITALIAN ART: Farnese Bull

Collection: 
ADJUNCT MODULE A: ITALIAN ART
Preferred Title: 
Farnese Bull
Image View: 
Detail, figure of Dirke, raising her arm against the hooves of the bull
Creator: 
after Apollonios of Tralles (Ancient Greek sculptor, active 2nd century BCE); after Tauriskos of Tralles (Ancient Greek sculptor, active ca. 2nd century BCE); unknown (Roman (ancient))
Location: 
repository: Museo Archeologico Nazionale (Naples, Campania, Italy) 6002
Location Note: 
Piazza Museo Nazionale, 19; Room XVI, formerly Farnese Collection
GPS: 
+40.8534+14.2505
Date: 
Roman copy, ca. 200-299 CE (creation)
Cultural Context: 
Roman (ancient)
Style Period: 
Greco-Roman; Hellenistic
Work Type 1: 
sculpture (visual work)
Classification: 
sculpture
Material: 
marble
Technique: 
carving (processes)
Measurements: 
370 cm (height) x 295 cm (length) x 295 cm (width)
Description: 
The sculptural group, known as the 'mountain of marble' due to the fact that it is made from a single block of enormous size, represents the agonizing death of Dirke, who was tied to an enraged bull by Amphion and Zethos as a punishment for the repeated injustices inflicted upon their mother Antiope. It is considered by modern scholars to be an enlarged and modified version of a group described by Pliny (Natural History XXXVI.iv.34) in connection with the myth of Dirke and attributable to Apollonios and Tauriskos of Rhodes. This re-elaborated copy seems to have been made by Roman sculptors in the 3rd century CE for the Baths of Caracalla in Rome, where the group was found in August 1545. (Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.oxfordartonline.com/)
Collection: 
Adjunct Module A: Italian Art
Identifier: 
7A3-G-NAM-FB-B10
Rights: 
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.